It didn’t take long for the Trail Smoke Eaters and West Kelowna Warriors to shake off the post Xmas cobwebs and play an extremely entertaining game at Royal LePage Place on Thursday night in West Kelowna. In an evenly played game the Warriors defeated the Smoke Eaters 3-2 in double overtime. “We played hard, blocked shots and had a good PK,” commented Smokie’s assistant coach Curtis Toneff. “It was an even game and both teams had their looks.” “The game came down to a few 2 on 1’s and they came out on top in the second overtime.”
West Kelowna took a first period lead at the 8:11 mark when Chase Dubois scored a power play goal. The Smokies tied the game at 19:14 on a goal by Ross Armour, his ninth of the season. Troy Ring assisted on the goal. There was no scoring in the second.
The Warriors went ahead 2-1 at 6:07 of the third on a goal by Jake Harrison. Ex-Warrior Mitchell Barker tied the game at 2 when he scored his fifth of the season at 10:33 with assists going to Connor Brown Maloski and Jeremy Lucchini.
At 3:46 of double overtime Connor Sodergren of the Warriors scored on a 2 on 1 when set up by Chase Dubois.
First Star of the game was the Warrior’s netminder Shane Farkas, second star was the Smokie’s netminder Zach Dyment and third star was Jake Harrison of the Warriors. Fortis Energy Player of the Game was Kelown’s Chase Dubois.
Jeremy Lucchini returns.
The game saw the return to the lineup of Jeremy Lucchini who had been on the injured reserve list since the start of the season. He played a solid game and was used on the PK and PP’s.
The Smokies return home on Friday night when they play the second game of the home and home with the Warriors. Game time is 7:30 PM at the Cominco Arena.
